Addressing spiritual needs

Some days, he walks around the hospital in a blue blazer and tie, indistinguishable from any doctor or visitor. Other days, he wears a cross around his neck. John VanderZee, a Presbyterian minister, has been a chaplain for 21 years. He has worked full-time at Bloomington Hospital for 11 years.\nThe first full-time hospital chaplain was in Massachusetts in 1924, VanderZee said. Today, he said, there are several thousand certified hospital chaplains in America.\nVanderZee had to do one year of Clinical Pastoral Education to graduate from seminary. From that point, he was "hooked," he said. He liked the hospital atmosphere and being "an odd fit for a hospital" because he deals with spiritual issues in a secular, scientific place. "The challenge excited me," he said.\nBloomington Hospital has 10 assistant chaplains who volunteer for night and weekend shifts. Henry Mann, from Cincinnati Christian Church in Green County, is one of them. He helps patients and staff with spiritual concerns, but most of his work is with patients' families. \nThe chaplains also work with social services to help patients and their families plan for when they get out of the hospital.\nDr. Lee McKinley of Bloomington Hospital said VanderZee is a resource not only for patients and families but also for physicians. \n"Physicians have spiritual needs themselves," he said.\nDr. Jerry Jesseph, a surgeon who works with VanderZee, said he is greatful to have VanderZee at Bloomington Hospital. "I appreciate his input and his perspective," he said. "He's been an integral part of taking care of patients in the hospital."\nJesseph said physicians can only support individuals' needs to a degree. VanderZee said it's hard for nurses and physicians to take the time to know patients' concerns and to help them figure out how to find strength. VanderZee spends his day helping patients deal with fear, insecurity and mental coping. \n"I claim no expertise in those areas," Jesseph said.\nReligious counseling, VanderZee said, helps patients through their trauma.\n"I think the benefits probably include a greater sense of peace, feeling they aren't forgotten by God or by a caring person," said VanderZee.\nVanderZee is available to all patients, regardless of their religious background.\n"I can't be a rabbi to someone who is Jewish, but I can be a presence for them," he said. \nHe supports and encourages them, and he contacts patients' own religious leaders.\n Along with specialists, nurses, doctors and families, VanderZee addresses critical, difficult decisions, such as turning off a loved one's life support. In interdisciplinary conferences, VanderZee helps families who feel burdened and lonely talk about their fears and feelings. \n There is a "growing interest in spirituality as a component of healing," VanderZee said. \n But because of reduced government funding, hospitals are cutting back on extraneous costs, so some are losing their chaplains. \nBloomington Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which requires spiritual care in some capacity in hospitals, VanderZee said.\n"Generally, chaplaincy is growing," he said.